NYC taxis and buses pick up speed with congestion pricing toll
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Public buses and taxis in New York City are travelling at faster speeds after the start of a congestion-pricing programme.
PHOTO: UNSPLASH
NEW YORK – New York City’s public buses and taxis are travelling at faster speeds after the start of a controversial congestion-pricing programme
The tolling initiative, the first of its kind in the US, marked its one-year anniversary on Jan 5. Most passenger vehicles pay US$9 (S$11.60) during peak hours to drive south of 60th Street, while trucks pay more, depending on their size.
The toll has helped reduce traffic by 11 per cent, according to the Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA), which runs the city’s transit network and implemented the fee.
Taxi trips starting or ending south of 60th Street travelled at an average of 11.7kmh from January to October 2025.
That is a 1.4 per cent increase from the same period in 2024, before the toll began, according to the RPA report released on Jan 5. It is a reversal from recent years, as average taxi speeds have decreased since 2021.
Some bus riders are also benefiting, with local, limited, select bus service and express buses travelling a combined 3 per cent faster in the tolled zone as at November, the report said.
The drop in traffic has helped buses and taxis speed up.
Traffic through tolled tunnels into Manhattan’s congestion pricing zone is down by 3.1 per cent, the report said.
Traffic volumes at bridge and tunnel crossings going into the congestion pricing zone were at 100 per cent of 2019 levels in the first 10 months of 2025. That is down from 2024, when the crossings saw 103.6 per cent of the 2019 volume.
The RPA, a non-profit organisation that promotes economic health and quality of life in the New York City area, and the Sam Schwartz Transportation Research Programme at the Roosevelt House Public Policy Institute at Hunter College collaborated on the report.
Congestion pricing is set to bring in US$548.3 million of net revenue in 2025, which will help modernise the city’s ageing transit network, according to the MTA. BLOOMBERG
